Phone Books As Door Stoppers
It’s been over a month, and still when I approach our offices, these yellow page phone books are laying beside the door. I wonder… has the time of hard copy yellow pages passed us? I remember the days that yellow page phone books were the only source of locating business information, it seems as the age of the internet is ever growing, the dependence on these older, more traditional forms of information have dissipated.
More and more people are turning to the internet as their main source of gathering information. Thus, online businesses, online advertising, and online marketing are a growing industry separate and more effective than that of traditional methods. When businesses target demographics locally, online advertising can reach a more streamlined demographic, which suits a businesses needs more adequately, thus enhancing traffic to their business and in turn increasing profitability of the business as a whole.
People want ease when looking for information and they find this in the internet, with search sites they simply type in what they want and pages appear providing them with results, as opposed to flipping through a huge bulky paper version that may or may not provide results. People also want simplicity and prefer compact items, having a paper copy means finding a place for it, it also means knowing the correct spelling and city that it’s located in.
With the internet, none of that is necessary, a person doesn’t even need to know the name of the business when searching for a particular service. Keywords on the net have enhanced searching to a level that paper versions can not compare with. To bring further clarity, using CityWaboo as an example, a person can type in a number of things and receive results, using words that describe something, such as “great hair stylist” instead of looking up “Frankie’s Salon”.
It’s no wonder that these books have laid outside stuffed into the corner between the building wall and the doors. They provide minimal value to a “user” and in the age of the internet, people want simplicity, quickness, ease and choice.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:03 am
That’s one perspective. Here’s another. “Simplicity, quickness, ease and choice” often translate this way - last year US consumers referenced the print Yellow Pages over 13.4 billion times. And many, many people don’t have Internet access during the work day, so the book becomes an important source for them. We know from our research that consumers like to use a number of sources when shopping and the ROI small businesses get from the YP is almost unbeatable. Yellow Pages, in any format, produces buyers - not browsers. Print and online, it’s not an either or proposition. Something to consider. For Yellow Pages usage facts, head to our site - www.ypassociation.org.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:52 am
and don’t forget these books often have coupons. don’t recall see any of those on the Internet lately
September 4th, 2008 at 10:11 am
I know this is only one opinion, but I throw them away. For fast resourceful and simplicity, I prefer the internet or 411. What is so… quick about looking through a book of over a thousand pages? Coupons, I’ve never used them.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I agree with Stephanie, I don’t think I’ve actually flipped through a Yellow Pages phone book in years… Access to the internet is so easy now-a-days, especially with Public Libraries and schools providing free access. Most places that I frequent often provide emails with coupon or discount offers in them and often times I can find coupons on the internet, whether through their website or through other ones like CitySearch or Yelp and even here on CityWaboo. I find the phone book a waste of space, but I will admit it’s a good resource for emergency situations…. I’ve only noticed them being used at pay phones.